Textured Art for Beginners: A Quick Intro

Textured art can look deceptively simple. A canvas, some texture paste and a few tools.

Then you actually try it...and suddenly your paste feels too soft, your lines aren't smooth, your flowers won't hold their shape or cracks appear while everything dries. Eek!!!

The good news is, you don't need to be an experienced artist to create beautiful textured art. A lot of it comes down to understanding your materials and knowing what small changes will affect the finished result.

This guide covers the things I think are genuinely helpful to know before you start, from choosing paste and preparing your canvas to colouring your paste, creating textured flowers and avoiding some of the most common beginner frustrations.

What is textured art?

Textured art is artwork with a raised, three-dimensional surface rather than relying entirely on flat paint. The style you often see on Instagram and Pinterest usually involves applying a thick medium to canvas and manipulating it into shapes using different tools.

You can create abstract arches, waves, palm trees, shells, textured florals, botanical shapes and all kinds of raised patterns.

There isn't one correct way to create textured art. The paste, tools and techniques that work best depend on what you're actually trying to make.

What supplies do you need for textured art?

You really don't need an enormous collection of supplies. A simple textured art supplies list for beginners might include:

• A canvas or suitable surface

• Texture or modelling paste

• Gesso

• Acrylic paint if you're adding colour

• Suitable application tools

• A container or surface for mixing

• Something to clean your tools as you work

Start with what you need for the style you want to create rather than buying every tool or paste you've seen another artist use.

What canvas should you use for textured art?

A stretched artist canvas is an easy place to start. Canvas boards can also work, although they don't have

the same finished profile as a stretched canvas.

Remember that texture adds weight. If you're planning a very heavily textured piece, your surface needs to be sturdy enough to support it.For your first project, starting reasonably small is often easier. You'll get a feel for how your paste behaves without using half a tub in one experiment.

Should you gesso a canvas before using texture paste?

I personally like to gesso my canvas even when it says it's already primed.

It gives me a surface I enjoy working on, but there's another reason I find it particularly useful for textured art: mistakes happen.

If I create a petal or section I don't like, a well-prepared surface makes it much easier for me to remove the wet paste and try again without leaving as much colour staining behind.

Just make sure the gesso is completely dry before you begin.

What paste do you use for textured art?

This is probably the biggest question beginners have.

You'll see artists using modelling paste, light modelling paste, texture paste, fillers, joint compounds and other products. There isn't one universally "best" paste.

The better question is: What do you need the paste to do?

A paste that works beautifully for smooth abstract arches may not be the one you want for a thick flower petal that needs to hold its shape.

Artist modelling pastes are specifically designed for creating texture and dimension, but even products with the same name can vary a lot between brands. Light modelling pastes can create volume with less weight, while more affordable fillers and compounds are also popular with some artists.

Just remember that a building product such as joint compound wasn't specifically formulated as an archival artist medium, so it's worth understanding what you're using and deciding whether it suits your artwork.

I've experimented with everything from professional artist products to much more affordable alternatives. If you want the specific paste examples I've used, what I look for and ways I modify different products, that's where my textured art resources come in.

What paste is best for textured flowers?

Firstly...pleadse DON'T use joint compound for thick florals! It will crack...and you'll be disappointed! Joint compound also doesn't hold colour well. Floral paste is a little more specific because you're asking the product to hold a defined three-dimensional shape and you're colouring it beforehand.

If the paste is too soft, you can create a beautiful thick petal and then watch it slowly flatten or spread. If it's extremely firm, it can become difficult to load and move smoothly.

The ideal consistency also changes depending on the flower and petal you're trying to create. So if your goal is thick textured flowers, don't choose a paste simply because you've seen someone use it for textured art generally. Look at what they're actually making with it.

If you're trying to create my style of thick textured florals, I show the several paste options I use for flowers and what I want the consistency to look like inside my Floral Class. I go over the pros & cons of each one...plus how to modify them if needed! One of my favourites is a light modelling paste, however I go over this in more detail plus my favourite more affordable options in the class!

Can you mix acrylic paint with modelling paste? Usually, yes. Mixing acrylic paint directly into paste is an easy way to create coloured textured artwork, but there are two important things to remember.

Your colour will become lighter

Most modelling pastes are white, so you're effectively mixing your acrylic colour with a large amount of white.

A very pale pink can almost disappear once mixed through the paste. Starting with a stronger colour than you expect can help, and it's always better to test a small amount first.

Paint can change the consistency

This is especially important with textured flowers.

You might start with a beautifully thick paste that holds its shape, then add enough paint to reach your desired colour and suddenly find that your petals are softer.

Using a stronger paint colour can sometimes help because you may need less of it.

If you're creating coloured textured flowers, I show how I colour my paste inside my Floral Class.

What palette knife is best for textured flowers?

Palette knife shape can make a surprisingly big difference to textured florals.

For my flowers, I particularly like tulip-shaped and pointed diamond palette knives. The narrower tip gives me more control over the beginning and end of the petal.

Also consider the width, flexibility and length of the blade. You'll probably find that once you've experimented with a few, you keep reaching for the same favourites.

How do you make textured flowers?

Textured flowers are built through individual palette knife movements, and tiny changes can create very different petals.

The main things to think about are:

• Paste consistency: it needs enough body for the petal you're creating.

• Amount of paste: too little may lack volume, while too much can become difficult to control.

• Knife loading: where the paste sits on the knife affects where it transfers to the canvas.

• Angle: this changes the shape and way the paste moves.

• Pressure: this affects thickness and spread.

• Finishing movement: the way you leave the petal can create a flatter finish or more of a flick.

Overall...it really doers come down to the movement and the little details within this!

Inside my Floral Class, I show the whole process visually...palette knife loading, angles, pressure and the different finishing movements I use for my petals. I break it down step by step and even show you in slow motion too.

Why do textured flowers flatten or have messy edges?

If your petals slowly lose their definition, start by looking at your paste consistency. It may simply be too soft to hold the dimension you're trying to create.

Also think about whether you've changed the consistency by adding colour.

For rough or messy edges, check your palette knife. Paste built up along the edge of the blade can drag through your next petal and leave unwanted ridges.

Knife loading matters too. If paste is spread messily across the blade instead of sitting where you need it, you'll have less control over what touches the canvas.

These are some of the small details I demonstrate up close in my Floral Class, because they're much easier to understand when you can watch the knife and paste together.

Why does texture paste crack?

Cracking is one of the most frustrating textured art problems because there isn't one single cause.

It can be influenced by the product, how thickly it's applied, the surface underneath, anything you've mixed into the paste and the conditions in which it dries.

Drying very quickly can also be a problem. I avoid placing heavily textured pieces directly under strong fans or air-conditioning because the outer surface may dry much faster than the material underneath.

Always check the manufacturer's instructions for the product you're using, particularly any recommendations around thickness and drying.

How long does texture paste take to dry?

There isn't one set drying time. It depends on the product, thickness, temperature, humidity, airflow and surface.

A thin application may feel dry relatively quickly, while a thick textured flower can take considerably longer....sometimes 3-4 days in cold climates!

Also remember that touch dry doesn't necessarily mean fully cured. The outside can feel firm while the thicker material underneath is still drying.

Follow the manufacturer's instructions before painting, varnishing, packaging or handling the artwork heavily.

Can you remove texture paste if you make a mistake?

While it's still wet, often yes.

This is one reason I don't want beginners to panic when one section goes wrong. If you've created one terrible petal in an otherwise lovely flower, you don't necessarily have to keep it forever.

Depending on the product and your prepared surface, you may be able to carefully remove the wet paste, clean the area and try again.It's much easier to correct before everything has hardened.

Common textured art mistakes to avoid

Buying too many supplies. Start with what you need for the style you're actually making.

Choosing paste without considering the design. Smooth abstract work and thick dimensional flowers can require very different things from a paste.

Assuming the paste is always the problem. Sometimes it is, but technique matters too. With flowers, paste consistency, loading, angle, pressure and movement all work together.

Adding too much paint. If your paste suddenly becomes much softer after colouring it, consider how much paint you've added.

Working with dirty tools. Even a small amount of dried paste on a working edge can affect your next movement.

Overworking it. Sometimes the more you try to fix a section, the worse it becomes.

Rushing the drying process. Thick texture needs time.

And probably the biggest one: comparing your first attempt with someone's hundredth. Creating controlled texture is a physical skill. Your hands genuinely get better at it with practice.

What's the easiest textured art for beginners?

You don't have to start with complicated florals.

Simple textured designs such as arches, palm trees and shells are a great way to create finished artwork

while learning how different materials and tools behave.

If those are the styles you want to create, my Textured Art For Beginners is specifically focused on arches, palm trees and shells, with step-by-step tutorials for each.

If it's the thick palette knife flowers you've been saving instead, my Floral Class is the one dedicated specifically to my floral style, including the paste, palette knives and petal techniques I use.

I hope this guide gives you something to think about before you start to experiment with textured art.

But there are some questions that are much easier to answer by showing you.

How do the pastes behave differently?

What should the paste consistency look like?

What angle do I press my palette knife?

How much paste is on the knife?

What angle is she holding it?

If those are the questions you're asking about my flowers, that's exactly what my Floral Class is designed to show you.

My biggest advice if you're starting textured art

Don't make your first goal a perfect finished artwork.

Make your first goal understanding your materials.

Put some paste on a spare canvas. Try different amounts. Add colour and notice what happens. Make deliberately thick and thin sections.

If you're learning florals, make five versions of the same petal rather than worrying about creating a perfect finished flower.

Then let everything dry and look at what happened.

That little practice session can teach you far more than repeatedly trying to recreate a perfect Pinterest artwork and wondering why yours looks different.

Once you understand what each small change does, you're no longer guessing.

And that's when textured art becomes really fun.